Handmade Holiday

The Handmade/DIY Holiday started with this idea I saw on Pinterest for a Snowman Wreath.  Ryan and I went down to Houston one weekend to see Kevin and Steph.  The boys went to some beerfest thing... they had a good time, I think. Ha.  Steph and I went to Michaels then did some crafting while Cason napped, then we picked the boys up.  What started as three little cheap wreaths and some yarn...

Ended up this cute guy on my door!  Thanks for helping me wrap the wreaths, Steph.  It was way more time consuming than we though, but a perfect task to sit, chat, eat cookies, and craft.  Very mindless.

Then, Whit, Steph and I decided we'd do a handmade holiday theme for our gifts to each other... we all have a crafty side and with the help of Pinterest, I think our "to do" lists have gotten really long.  I was excited to try some of the things I had pinned.

I started with these necklaces made using Mod Podge Dimensional, scrapbook paper and little pearls.  It took me a couple of tries (you can soak the Mod Podge off and start over) but finally got it right.

Then I added these dishtowel aprons... mainly because I found the super cute black, yellow and white fabric and wanted to use it.  The inspiration was from this blog. I loved the idea of using a dishtowel because you can just wipe your hands right on your apron.  This should be an easy project... just add some trim and a waistband... but it was not as easy as I hoped.  Mainly because dishtowels are not perfectly made... the edges aren't straight.  It wasn't difficult but it wasn't a 30 minute project like I hoped. I never got a picture of the apron on because, well, I'm pregnant and it didn't fit.  Ryan's mom got one too!

I also made these, but forgot to take pictures.

Then, the theme continued with the men in Ryan's family.  I'd seen the idea of a "Year of Yum" on Pinterest and knew Ryan's dad and brothers would appreciate some of my baked treats.  I found these cute tins at Container Store and added the foam scrapbook letters.  We gave the boys a note with the "rules"... essentially they could get unlimited refills all year by returning the tin to one of us... Of course, Ryan's dad had a special rule that he couldn't return it to Ryan at work because, well, that could get out of hand!  :)  I filled the tins the first time with iced sugar cookies, chocolate covered pretzels and peppermint bark.

My brother also got in on the handmade holiday... again thanks to Pinterest.  I guess I never saved the idea, but it was for a Lego belt.  Lego's have a deep history in my family.  I have lots of memories of me and James building whole cities in the hall of my parents house.  He still, to this day, LOVES Lego's and has shared that love with my niece.  Ryan loves Lego's too and Cason is falling in love himself.  We are a Lego Family.  I knew, of all the men in my life, James would appreciate and wear this belt.  I just got a basic canvas belt from Target and spruced it up with some of our childhood Lego's, dirt and all!  Ha.  James recognized the pieces as part of my old Hospital set.  He's correct.

And last, I was at a loss for what to get my Mom.  She likes to knit but I know nothing about knitting.  After some suggestions from some knitter friends, I found the idea of a case for her needles... and all the ones I saw I thought "I could do that".  So I started searching for tutorials.  I didn't find anything exactly what I wanted so I just took a few different ones and made it on my own.  Again, with that super cute yellow, black and white fabric that I'd found at Wal-mart of all places.  This project was super easy, a variation of the crayon roll I've made before.  Mom loved it!

Okay... one more... And not necessarily part of Holiday gifts, but I wrapped up my season of sewing with Curtains and Baskets in Claire's room and these fun aprons for my "sprinkle" hostesses... made using this tutorial (minus the pocket because I don't really ever use a pocket on an apron).  I bought three coordinating fabrics and mixed and matched, using muslin for the back side.  After the 3rd one, I had the process down pretty good and can see myself making these again in the future.  It was a fun, not too difficult project with good results.

Whew... now I know why I've been so tired... between Cason, Claire, Work and all these projects... I've been busy.

Halloween Shirt

I haven't been able to find a good, basic Halloween shirt for Cason so I just made him one.  I'm getting a little better at my zigzag sewing. Just don't ask how many times I sewed the front and back of the shirt together.



To make the pumpkin, I just used the Google Image search and found a pumpkin outline I liked, then scaled it on my printer's copy machine features.  The rest is just another example of the "Sort of Applique".

10 Minute Onesie Dress, Take 2

I wrote this post sometime last year when I first attempted the onesie dress.  I don't remember that process as fondly as I wrote about it and I know for a fact I ended up taking the whole thing apart later and using the fabric on something else.

Now that I am having a girl, I decided to try again.  This time, the final result was much better but it's no 10 minutes... it still takes me that long to do the simple hem and to pin the fabric to the onesie.  Both times I've gotten stuck on the same part of the process so I finally decided to just change it and do it the way that made sense to me and it worked.

This is a recycled onesie of Cason's.  I think I'll probably need to hem it again once I know how long Baby Girl is.

I'm going to try to recycle a few of his neutral printed ones with coordinating fabrics and maybe some ruffle-butts too!

"Sort-Of-Applique" sewing

For some time now I've been want to make one of those cute tie onesies, like this one from "Crap I've Made".  Suz's cute valentines shirts for her boys finally got my totally inspired so I got to work.... but I didn't make anything with a tie on it.  Ha.  That's coming though!

Suz sent me the tutorial to the "Sort-of Applique T-Shirt" (I love that name) and also told me where to get all the supplies for cheap!  We all know I love a bargain and I already had lots of cute fabrics in my stash so I just needed the heat-n-bond and the shirts.

First, I did this cute little onesie for the newest little baby in our lives... Miss Ava.   Ava's parent's are some of our good friend and her mommy also works with Ryan.  We met her yesterday and she's just the cutest little thing. 

Before the stitching

After a quick zig-zag stitch

I also made Miss Ava another onesie with a cute lowercase "a" but I never got a picture of it before we went to meet her.

Then I made a couple of shirts for Cason.  They are probably too big for him so I hope it doesn't turn 100 degrees too soon!

See, since I had this cute Guitar fabric and Truck fabric, I couldn't resist making a Guitar Shirt and a Truck Shirt instead of a tie. 

 

I did a straight triple top stitch on the truck

And a zig-zag topstitch on the guitar.
 

I know another little boy named Mo that needs a guitar onesie and a truck onesie so I'll be repeating these projects very soon! 

Sewing Projects

The new Call of Duty (XBox game) came out today and Ryan was dying to play.  So after Cason went to bed I sat down at the sewing machine to work on a couple of things.  I guess you might call me an “XBox Widow” – as opposed to a “Hunting Widow” or “Fishing Widow”.  But it’s okay.  He enjoys it and I get a little time to do girly things.. like sew.

I’ve been dying to try the 10-minute-onesie-dress from PrudentBaby for quite some time.  Seeing as we have a little boy though, it hasn’t been the top of the list.   I finally gave it a try tonight to see how easy it really is and determine if I want to make some more for gifts.   My first attempt took me 30 minutes.  I’m just not that fast of a seamstress… it took me 10 minutes just to do the hem.  Anyway, I say “first attempt” because after I sewed the whole thing and turned it right side out I wasn’t 100% happy and realized I could have done things a little different.  So, out came the seam ripper. I took the skirt off and did it again.  The whole process took an hour but next time, I’m thinking 30 minutes, tops.  I was happy with the final product and think I might hang this in the empty bedroom and hope it brings me a little girl to wear it one day!  ;)

     

This weekend I made a Fat Quarter Apron using some of the fun coordinating fabrics I’ve been collecting (from my friend Ashley) and saving “for a rainy day”.  This was my first time using Bias Tape and it was a good thing to learn.  The apron was easy, no troubles to speak of.  I use a little grosgrain ribbon for ties since.  Next time I think I’ll just make the Apron reversible using coordinating Fat Quarters.  This way I can just sew the two pieces together like a pillowcase, flip right side out and add the band at the top.  Much less tedious than the bias tape and anything that is reversible makes you think you got 2 for 1!  

   

And last, a few bib and burp cloth sets I’ve made as gifts.

These were for Erica.  I realized that I had this bird fabric which is the same fabric (different colors) as Miss O’s nursery.  And, the pink cowgirl was sort of a joke because Erica swore Miss O would never wear pink… ever… so I just couldn’t resist all the pink and the Texas cowgirl print.  (PS, little Miss Priss does wear pink…  never say “never”)

  

And these were for my brother and Taylor and my new nephew Mo.  Three different colors of the Michael Miller “Haul It” Print.  I love this fabric and have some left over that I’m trying to figure out what I want to make for Cason.

 

Future projects I’m hoping to accomplish:

• Long Sleeve Peasant Dress
• This cute little John-John for Spring
• Reversible version of the Fat Quarter Apron

"Beverly Hills! What a Thrill!"

This title has absolutely nothing to do with what this blog is about but yet it does. This is the song from Troop Beverly Hills. I love this movie and have vivid memories of watching it with my friend Ashley when we were in 4th grade. Little did we know then how our friendship would grow and last. Ashley and I didn't go to the same school but we were in APAC (Academic and Performing Arts Complex -- our little nerdy magnet program). We both left our home school early each day and were bussed to the APAC campus for more advanced classes... we took two classes (Math, Science or English) at a grade level ahead. Nerds. I think Ashley was also in APAC Art as well. I had no performing arts and still don't! So Ashley and I met there at APAC and she invited me to her house to play one afternoon. We watched Troop Beverly Hills and I guess you could say the rest was history.

Both our elementary schools fed into the same Middle School and High School (though Ash had a brief stint at a different High School and quickly found her way back home!) so the friendship kept going. When college rolled around we both ended up picking Millsaps and decided to request to be on the same floor/wing of our dorm so that we could meet new people but still have someone we knew close by. The admissions/housing office complied and we were assigned two doors down from each other. By midterm, both of us were looking to switch roommates and ultimately we moved in together. I'll just say we had a blast that year... lots of late nights, lots of double stuff Oreo's and milk... We should have roomed together from day 1!

Ashley decided to change schools after the first year and off to Charleston she went. I stayed in Jackson.  Today she's in Colorado and I'm in Texas. Through it all, we are still great friends. She's one of the few people that still calls me "SAD" and I love it!

All of this backstory finally brings me to the project I just finished. Ashley has a shop on Etsy where she sells fun designer ("Beverly Hills" = Designer/High Fashion right???) fabrics. After my first burp cloth, I decided I wanted to make some more and thought I could make some bibs too (after reading this blog on Prudent Baby). I ordered some fabric from Ashley and got to work.

I made the bib first following Prudent Baby's instructions (minus pocket). I don't think I used the best bib as a guide and ended up with a too small neck. I made some adjustments and was able to salvage and learned a few lessons for the next one.

For the burp cloth I just sewed a rectangle of fabric on the center of the cloth diaper and added some grosgrain ribbon on the ends to hide the fact that my rectangle was about 1/4 inch too small!

Neither are quite sellable or giftable but with a little more practice I might be there. I wonder if I could get a "Wilderness Girl Patch" for my sewing! ;)  I have lots of fun fabrics to work with.

Being Domestic: Burp Cloth

In about 20 minutes, I went from this (cloth diaper and some grosgrain ribbon)

To this cute little burp cloth for the future basketball star.

 

I’m going to take it to have his name embroidered on as a final touch. 

This was one of the projects on my “to do before the baby comes” list… most of which did not get done before his early arrival!